Saturday, March 17, 2007

The assignment in Sunday School last week was for each member to write a mission statement for his or her life?

It has frankly been a struggle for some of the folks in Polecat Hollow. Uncle Hinky wondered if they meant up until that point or beyond. At 105 he wonders how many more changes might be in store for him. He figures that if he can hand out a little more advice here and there and if someone takes it, his days will not be in vain. He said that. He even wrote it down. But he didn't give much more thought to it.

"It sounds good," he told Byron. "It's about what you'd expect an old goat to say."

Inside, he figured no one would ask for advise and he'd be under no obligation to actually give it - certainly free of the responsibility if it didn't work out.

Miss Prudence is not quite so old (but considerably older than anyone else she knows well) and is always looking forward with clarity and wonder. There are so many things she has not yet done to add to the list of all that she has experienced. Her mission, as she saw it, was to help some young folks along their way. However, she was not sure what that might look like.

Her heart was right however.

That is probably why all the Junior Goobies, led by Buster and Sally, eventually found their way to her house last week. It was not just the years, but how she had lived them. She gave each child a little bit different piece of advice based upon what she knew of each of them and what they told her as she asked some very searching questions.

"You just can't package this stuff," she told Hinky at Mabel's Teacup on Friday, feeling a bit more of an expert by this time. "Everyone is different and God has a special plan for everyone of those young people."

"We just have to be there to love and support them and guide them a bit."

About that time, Mayor Bryon T. Simpleton whizzed by the table.

"I could really use some of your time this afternoon to talk through some town issues. Are you busy at about 5?"

"I'll have to consult my datebook," Hinky chuckled. "I think I can work you in between naps."

It was about that time that it became especially clear to both of them what they would be doing for the next years of their lives.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

There is a rumor that the City of Polecat Hollow is trying to annex Skunkville. Mayor Simpleton's office was contacted today and he categorically denied that he had appointed a study committee comprised of Igmund G. Goodfellow Senior, Billy Bud Blueblood, and Guy Dance to strategize on the matter at the February Redevelopment Board meeting.

This came as news to Goodfellow who was contacted this afternoon by reporters from KPU radio and The Scent of Polecat Hollow.

"The mayor seems to be confused in his recollections of that meeting," he said. "His exact quote was 'let's swallow them.'"

The mayor's response was that he was simply using that term to indicate affection as the larfer town sought ways to honor the smaller on their 100th aniversery. "You know how old folks used to tell kids that they were so cute they could just eat you up," he explained.

Apparently the town council of Polecat Hollow's cute counterpart isn't feeling the love. They have contracted with the law firms of S.Q, Eyre and Lee Gail Eese to ward off what they assume will be a hostile takeover attempt.

Mayor simpleton's interest in "honoring" Skunkville seems to have begun several weeks ago when a vein of gold was discovered within her city limits.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

What we discovered in church today is that we simply cannot judge a braggard by his brags. There is more to Flavius than meets the eye. He has pain and struggles that no one knows and with a little patience and love, he can find his humble, centered self.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

I can't remember exactly when Flavius moved to town, but I do remember that it was an awful shock at the time. Like so many immigrants to Polecat Hollow, he had lost his sense of smell through a series of misfortunes and had migrated to the hills to be among his "own kind."

By, "his own kind," he would have described those with a high tolerance for odoriferousanomalies such as are frequent in our skunk affluent environment.

But, he didn't really get it. He was as pretentious as his name with all the ironies that are normally associated with conceit.

Flavius simply had the most uncanny ability to offend, belittle, and alienate with a tip of his nose skyward that the town had ever seen. He seemed to believe that he was better than everyone else and was intent upon presenting that image in every possible circumstance.

What the townsfolk did not know from the beginning and what would bring out their eventual characteristic compassion was something about his past and his own insecurities that I shall bring to your attention as the book unfolds.

For now, it will suffice to say that things are not always as they seem and people are not always what we see on the surface. Sometimes the reality is both more painful anmd wonderful than we expect. It takes sensitive souls with deep persistence and patient love to find out.

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About Me

I am a pastor, writer, life coach, and online community developer. I am senior pastor of Baptist Temple, the Fellowship of Joy in Fresno, CA. and owner of Workshops to Go and Church Newsletters PLUS. I am a husband, father of two adult sons, and grandfather of 3 children.